'Spirits
of the Night – Shades of Grief' is a quirky,
wistful journey through different colours, textures and tonalities.
It is intended to be an imaginative, emotionally intense piece
which aims to draw the listener into a fantasy world which
exhibits light and shade: an emotive balance of anguish and
hope.

This piece was commissioned by and
written in 2009 for harpist Eleanor Turner, who gave its World
Premiere on 30th January 2010 at the Sala Incontri, Chiusa Pesio
in Italy, and the UK Premiere on 19th July 2010 at Oundle Festival.
Eleanor has edited the score with considerable input by Charlotte
Seale, to whom she is very grateful. Thanks also to Ann Griffiths
for preparing the final version for publication.

A
recording of Spirits of the Night - Shades of Grief,
performed by Eleanor Turner, is available on the CD Lady of
the Lake. This CD of music by Thomas Hewitt Jones also includes
the ballet suite from 'Lady of the Lake' performed by
members of the Chamber Orchestra of London, and Thomas's oboe sonata
'Sonata Cimarella' performed by James Turnbull, as well as the
anthem 'Drop, drop slow tears' and a selection of other luscious
choral music sung by vocal group Voces8. Vivum Records VR37603.
Available from Creighton's
Collection

Classically trained and
brilliantly gifted, Thomas Hewitt Jones is equally
at home in his roles as cellist, conductor and organist
as well as composer.

Senior Winner of the BBC Young Composer
Competition in 2003, he went on to study music at Cambridge University,
where he was organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College.

His range and versatility as a composer
go from the innocence of a carol to the sophistication of Hollywood
film music; from solo songs and instrumental music to a Christmas
fanfare for symphony orchestra. He has written three highly acclaimed
ballets on Welsh themes for Ballet Cymru, including ballets based
on Richard Llewellyn's 'How green was my Valley', Dylan Thomas's
'Under Milk Wood' and the magical folk-tale 'Lady of the Lake'.

As composer of the brilliant sound-track
for the animated films for the 2012 Olympic mascots, Thomas Hewitt
Jones’s music is being heard all over the world.

Eleanor Turner studied the harp with
Daphne Boden and Alison Nicholls. She won First Prize in the
Cardiff European Harp Competition 2007 and Third Prize and the
Peutz Audience Prize in the Netherlands International Harp Competition
2010. As a recipient of a prestigious Wingate Scholarship for
her studies in contemporary music, Eleanor was delighted to edit ‘Shades
of Grief’ with the invaluable help of Charlotte Seale.

About the front cover:
Grief - a memorial in marble by William Goscombe John, 1860-1952St Brynach’s Church,
Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Born in Cardiff, Wales, William Goscombe
John became one of the most important figures in the New Sculpture
movement of the late nineteenth century. In 1881 he left Cardiff
to pursue his career and studies in London, Italy and Paris,
where he was much influenced by Auguste Rodin. Awarded the Gold
Medal of the Royal Academy schools in 1887, in 1901 he won the
Gold Medal in Paris, becoming a Royal Academician in 1909 and
earning a knighthood in 1911.

Conceived as a memorial to former MP W.R.H.
Powell, 'Grief' was one of his earliest commissions. The image
used on the front cover is taken from Vol.16, The Studio, published
in 1899. Sadly, a century of exposure to wind and weather in the
churchyard has led to the sculpture's deterioration and its present
dilapidated state. An initial grant towards its preservation and
removal to a more sheltered position inside the church was awarded
by CADW in 2007, but further funds need to be raised. Adlais
Music Publishers will donate their profits from the sale of this
score to the restoration fund.

from review of the CD "Lady of the Lake" - Premiere recording
of Spirits of the Night - Shades of Grief.

It's a work that
was written for, edited by and premiered by Eleanor Turner who introduced
it on 30 January 2010 in Italy. For those steeped in British music
its richly tapestried progress sounds quite like Bax mixed with the
bardic associations inextricably bound up with the instrument. Delicacy
is a given but so is the finery of drama and beauty. It's a work fully
worthy to stand alongside the Grace Williams Hiraeth and William
Mathias's Sonata.